


Coming Home

by myukur



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Trans Keith (Voltron), tribal au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2018-11-12
Packaged: 2019-08-22 12:23:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16597844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myukur/pseuds/myukur
Summary: He was a fallen star, or perhaps a godling, tossed from the heavens. At least that was the way Shiro saw him.Shiro is a soldier in a war, and Keith is the village boy he falls in love with.





	Coming Home

He was a fallen star, or perhaps a godling, tossed from the heavens. At least that was the way Shiro saw him. Shiro and his men had only taken up camp in Keith’s village for two days, but the beautiful boy was nearly everywhere Shiro looked. The first time he had seen the boy, was when he had made his way down to the river, where everyone in the village went to bathe and wash clothes. Shiro went as soon as the sun had rose above the horizon, when the morning air chilled the water to barely tolerable, before anyone else would dare to brave the frigid water. But there the boy had been, nude back and fine hair plastered to his nape, water sliding off his back, caressing his body as it slid down. Shiro had been mesmerized by the sight. 

It felt almost devious, watching Keith bathe, his back to Shiro, but Keith turned his head to the side and his eyes shone as they looked at Shiro, and it felt as if all the air had been punched from his gut. To be looked at like that. Shiro turned to leave. He did not take a bath that day.

The second time he had seen Keith, had been struck down by a force he could not name, had been after Shiro and his men came back from a hunt. A large boar sat, roasting over a communal fire. A feast for the village, in thanks for supporting Shiro and his men on their long and wearisome journey.

Keith sat next to his mother, Krolia, chief of the village and a strong, fearsome leader. 

Krolia looked at Shiro like she could see the very dust that made him. It terrified Shiro, but Keith looked at Shiro like he was something special, like Shiro was something worthwhile. 

Shiro was not the only one to admire Keith.

Shiro was watching Keith as he played with Lance and Allura’s newly born baby. Laughing at the babbling nonsense the baby made, as Keith balanced her on his hip. And so where three of Shiro’s soldiers. 

“Look at him, he’s gorgeous!” Griffin cries, and Shiro and the others all turn to glare at him, lest he startle Keith or the baby and ruin the moment.  
Kinkade nods contemplatively, “I’d give him as many babies as he wanted.”

Shiro frowns, no one but him would have anything to do with Keith and babies.

Keith seems to have heard them anyways, because he looks up and straight at Shiro, and suddenly Shiro doesn’t see anyone else.

Eventually, it was time that Shiro and his men had to continue on, leaving the quaint village and its people behind. There was a war, and Shiro was a part of it, however much he wished he could give it up and just stay forever. Shiro had a duty, and a promise to his soldiers to keep. 

Keith watched him go the morning they left, his hand clutched around a promise. A promise to come back.

 

It took a year. The wat was won much faster than anyone anticipated, but not fast enough for one soldier. A lot can happen in a year, a war can be won, or lost, a man can win a war, but lose an arm, and a boy in a village can move on.

But Shiro still had hope.

So Shiro said goodbye to one life, and began walking to another he wanted more. 

The village welcomed him with open arms, celebrating the victory Shiro helped provide. Krolia’s gaze turned into one of mild respect, and then one of acceptance, as Shiro turned to hunting with the others, and always bringing back more than enough for the people, even during the most frigid winters.

“It’s good to see you back here, warrior. I’m sorry for your loss,” Krolia tells him, briefly gesturing to where his right arm used to be, the first week he is back. 

Shiro looks over to where Keith is chatting with some of the older women of the village, obligingly weaving the way they teach him to, and he must say something funny because the women all titter and giggle. One patting his cheek. Keith glances at Shiro, ducks his head and smiles shyly when he notices Shiro was already watching him. “I appreciate the sentiment, chief, but I don’t think I lost anything.”

Even without the help of his arm, Shiro is a formidable warrior, and a formidable hunter. He brings at least twelve large hares to Keith’s hut and watches in rapt fascination as Keith strips the hares of their skin and prepares them for cooking. 

He’s still cooking when Krolia comes in, looking exhausted as she drops down into her favored pile of furs.

Shiro himself sits on an intricately woven mat that Keith gave him one evening, looking resolute. He watched for Shiro’s reaction, and Shiro was helpless to do anything but limply take the gift, carrying it around with him practically everywhere he went. 

Keith took pity on him and told him to keep it here, to use as a seat whenever he came over. And it was a testament to how often Shiro was here, that the new mat was already fading in color where Shiro sat on it. He mourned how quickly he was breaking in and using the mat, but Keith placated him with promises of making him a new one, so he would always have a seat here.  
Shiro new how lucky he was. So Shiro soon began the slow process of collected sturdy logs, and tanning leather. He was making a hut. And hopefully, by the end, if everything went right, he wouldn’t be the only one living in it. 

Krolia looked on in mild approval. She only ever wanted her son to be happy, after all.

So Shiro spent his days working on the hut, and his evenings spending time with Keith and Krolia, eating whatever Keith made from the beasts Shiro brought back.

It was late fall when Shiro finally completed his project, presenting it to Keith for inspection and, hopefully, approval. Keith took one look at Shiro’s creation, lips pursed, before it broke into a smile and he fell into Shiro’s hold, giving Shiro a delicate kiss on the cheek.

“It’s perfect. You’re perfect.” 

Shiro couldn’t ask for anything more.


End file.
